


when the stars shift

by ElasticElla



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Bisexual Isabelle Lightwood, F/F, Lesbian Maureen, background malec & clace, past izzy/meliorn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-06
Updated: 2016-08-06
Packaged: 2018-07-29 15:40:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7690258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElasticElla/pseuds/ElasticElla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Isabelle has been wandering for quite some time before she finds her princess.</p>
            </blockquote>





	when the stars shift

Isabelle has been wandering for quite some time before she finds her princess. She travels through the deserts with her two brothers and they find a girl, then find her lost mother. Her younger brother stays, and she and Alec continue into the forests. They find a bored sorcerer, with a bewitched town as his plaything. Alec trades a night to free the town, and then stays many more. Isabelle continues on, into the grasslands this time. 

She's been searching longer than most, has grown three inches since the journey began. She always thought her future would be easiest to find. Her and Jace would settle easily, Alec was the one she thought would go place to place, youth slipping away too fast. Yet she is the one still looking, grasslands to riverlands to caves to the great sea to volcanoes. 

She meets many, helps more, and even falls in love once. But she is not of the fae, and should not have remained in their court for so long. Her father must be worried, her mother disappointed. It is Meliorn's reminder that his soul belongs to his queen that makes her leave. It's something she knew from the start, an idea she skirted around, allowing herself to distract and be distracted. The faerie court feels like a dream, horrid and beautiful, illogical and overflowing with possibilities. Leaving is the only real option, and it feels too much like a loss.

Back to the deserts, she visits Jace and Clary, stays until the stars shift. Izzy doesn't feel right yet- better, but not ready to venture into the world once more. So she visits Alec and Magnus next, spends days painting and repainting her nails and theirs. 

This time, when the stars change, she's ready. 

Three inches taller, she hikes into the snowy mountains. The land is quieter than any of the others- there is no rustling leaves nor lapping waters nor grassy whispers. There is only the wind whipping around her, cold and demanding. It pushes her up the tallest mountain swiftly, and only by the top does she look down. 

The view alone forgives such a treacherous wind, more beauty than Izzy has ever seen. Even the tall, tall trees of Magnus's magical forest seem small up here, and for once she misses the hot wind of Clary's land- even if it carries so much sand. 

“You seem lost,” a voice says, and Izzy spins around, is not used to being snuck up upon. 

The girl is shorter than her, a few dark curls escaping her hood, and a bright smile that matches the snow itself. “I'm Maureen.” 

.

Maureen doesn't need help nor saving nor convincing to stop toying with others' lives. Maureen's perfectly happy, an ice princess living in her own castle. She doesn't seem lonely, but Izzy still uses that to excuse herself from heading over to the next mountain. The Clave's mission is to help any in need, and surely loneliness is an emotional malady. (Perhaps, perhaps she left her older brother's too soon.)

The princess knows she's of the Clave and rather than sending her on her way, Maureen shows her to a lavish guest room. She shows her more exciting things in the coming days: the northern lights, baby penguins, the one volcano beneath all the snows, a cave full of multicolored ice. They even swim once in the first river, icy waters that they can only stay in for a few moments before heading in for a much warmer bath. It's like nothing else, like nowhere else. It's perfect beyond belief, and when Isabelle can no longer pretend Maureen's suffering from loneliness, she packs her bags. Hoping as she does that the next mountain is full of problems and demons that keep her near. (Izzy knows she shouldn't wish ill on others, but she's grown selfish in the north, can't help but wanting.)

Maureen appears in the doorway as Isabelle tucks away her lucky jacket. 

“You're leaving me,” Maureen says, simple and clean. 

It breaks Izzy open all over again, “I'm sorry- I have to fulfill my duties. I've been… very lax here.” 

Maureen nods, doesn't smile nor frown, and she's never seemed more like the ice princess she is. Izzy feels a hot wave of shame- desiring one she has done nothing for, one that doesn't even like her, one that-

“We can leave in the morning, my mother always complains when I 'hide away from civilization' for too long,” Maureen says. 

Izzy blinks. Replays the moment in her head, a cautious smile on her lips. “Okay.” 

“Are you feeling better?” she asks. 

“Hmm?” 

“When you got here,” Maureen clarifies, “you didn't seem very happy.” 

It's true- Izzy knows it well, but feels worse that Maureen noticed. She had hoped it was invisible, small things like seeing the northern lights' beauty rather than feeling it. It's yet another reason she shouldn't pursue Maureen, at least not yet. Perhaps in the next mountain she'll become worthy to ask, maybe even-

Maureen's kissing her. 

She tastes faintly of the strawberries they had for dessert, and Izzy's half convinced her imagination's gotten more vivid when Maureen's hands rest on her shoulders. 

_This is real, this is real, this is real._

Izzy's been kissing her back, but not with the intention that comes with the realization. Her head tilts down further, one hand cupping Maureen's face and the other wrapped around her back. They kiss until they're breathless, slow and exploratory. Izzy feels reborn, reignited- feels far more like herself than she has since this journey begun.

“Can I claim you?” Maureen asks, a low whisper. 

Isabelle lets out a small exhale of a laugh, because of course Maureen knew of the Clave's old customs. A few thousand turns ago, it would have been Isabelle asking, probably with at least seven recently slain demons at her feet. There's no doubt the princess knows she's asking for her hand, and for the first time Isabelle stops thinking about how she must earn her. 

“You may,” Izzy says, sweeping her up into another kiss.


End file.
